The Ark of Voltron
by MetalGeneral
Summary: In a world where many races are under the threat of the Galra rule, only summoners-those trained to fight alongside powerful monsters-can stand up as the planet's protectors. When three cadets from the Garrison stumble upon the Ark and its lost remnants of the Altean race, they become involved in ending the Galra threat once and for all.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : This is a Voltron AU taking influence from both Final Fantasy and Avatar: The Last Air Bender. Everyone has their own elemental magic they can use, but they can also summon creatures to fight with them. The many aliens and planets seen in the series are all found an represented on a singular planet here. If anyone wants more explanation after this chapter, I'll be happy to expand on this more. Also, no one knows Pidge's secret yet, so many of the characters will refer to her with male pronouns until they find out.

* * *

Lance was not one who thought too hard about life and its consequences, though he had to admit that he was beginning to worry about where he and his team might end up if things kept going the way they were. His time at the Guardian Garrison had been hectic to say the least, and only continued to get crazier as time went. There was him, a water bender amongst many other water benders, and his friends Pidge and Hunk, a nature bender and land bender respectively. The three of them were admittedly very good with their abilities, though Pidge and Hunk had it easier than he did, their abilities being less common and all.

Water bending was the most common ability amongst humans, so Lance had stiff competition when it came to being put in the summoners' program at the Garrison. Though he wasn't the best or the most disciplined bender the program had, he still managed to get in through pure luck and circumstances. One of the water benders chosen for the program ended up having to leave the Garrison due to family matters, and that meant that Lance, the water bender who had just barely missed out on being in the program, managed to get his wish. He was going to be a summoner.

Hunk had been ecstatic when he found out, having thought that he would be in the program without his best friend, and being put on a team with him had only made things that much better. The water bender and land bender had their trio completed by a boy named Pidge, who Lance swore was far too young to be enrolled in the Guardian Garrison, but what did he know? Nature benders were pretty cool in his eyes, and Pidge seemed more than capable with his abilities.

Their team hit it off fairly well, despite Pidge's initial distance from the two best friends. Lance refused to let him isolate himself off from his team, so of course he had heckled the guy long enough to get him to hang out with the two more often. Pidge had been pleasantly surprised after he found out how well his abilities went with Hunk's land bending, and it was difficult to separate them after they began bonding over technology, relics, and all things nerdy. Lance had to admit defeat once they got like that, as there was no way he could contribute to conversations of that nature. Either way, he did manage to get better acquainted with Pidge through excessive use of video game playing.

As for how the summoners' program itself was going, Lance sometimes just wanted to crawl away and hide somewhere. His team had all managed to successfully summon their respective guardian, but that didn't mean they had completed their bond with it or even learned how to fight effectively together with them all.

Lance, as a water bender, focused on the manipulation of both liquid water and ice. His guardian was the ice goddess Shiva, much to his delight. Not only was she beautiful, but she could freeze all in her path and put up powerful ice barriers to protect both himself and his team. Of course, his bond to her had yet to be strengthened beyond simply summoning her, and actually _using_ her ice to protect the team was next to impossible. If he was lucky, he could guide her into not hitting Hunk and Pidge with her ice, but that was about it. It had happened more than enough times that either Pidge or Hunk needed to be healed of frost bite after a battle.

Meanwhile, Hunk was a land bender, able to manipulate both the rocks of the planet and the metal that could be created from them. His guardian was Titan, servant of the land. Titan was much more physically powerful than Shiva, being able to crack the land and cause powerful earthquakes. A single punch could destroy the strongest of barriers. Unfortunately, though earthquakes and crushing barriers was bad for Titan's enemies, it was also detrimental to those on Titan's side, and Hunk had yet to figure out how to prevent his teammates from being affected from his guardian's abilities.

Finally, Pidge was a nature bender, capable of manipulating life and the relationships amongst it. His guardian, much to Lance's confusion, was Carbuncle, creature of the gems. Admittedly, his guardian was adorable and fit Pidge's personality well, but Lance had expected something more attack-based, like his and Hunk's guardians. Carbuncle was a support guardian, able to shield its summoner and teammates with a mystical barrier, capable of deflecting magic attacks and sending them back at the user. It was highly effective when fighting other benders, but the team would keep accidentally hitting each other's reflect barrier and injuring themselves as a result. When Lance tried to tell Pidge off for this, Pidge would simply deflect his rage back at Hunk with his nature bending, annoying Lance even more after the fact.

The three of them were a disaster in battle. That was all their commander Iverson told them one day, angrily shouting and demeaning them for their poor performance. Lance, in a panic, had to hold Pidge back as he attempted to argue back at their commander, and all in all the encounter was awful. He knew what Hunk and Pidge were both thinking; he was thinking it himself, after all. They were going to be kicked out of the summoners' program if they couldn't get their acts together, and Lance didn't know if he'd be able to handle that if it happened.

It was night time, well past curfew, and both Lance and Hunk were sitting in their shared dorm room. They had talked in earnest about their issues controlling their guardians before Lance got fed up. Standing from his bed, he turned dramatically to Hunk, deciding that they would grab Pidge and sneak out for the night. Perhaps some more team bonding was in order if they fought so poorly together.

So, the two of them snuck out of their room, reaching their teammate's room just in time to see him sneak out with an armful of technology. At first Hunk was reluctant to follow, afraid of the repercussions should they be caught, but Lance was adamant about finding out what Pidge was up to. That lead to Pidge sneaking off to an isolated rooftop of the Garrison, Hunk and Lance catching up moments later to catch him setting up his equipment.

Perhaps sneaking up on the guy wasn't Lance's brightest move, but he was feeling playful and wanted to give Pidge a good scare. Considering that that action nearly ended up with him receiving a black eye, it made him wonder if it was worth it in the end, but Pidge at least relented and told his teammates what he was up to.

"I've been getting this strange signal from my equipment lately, so I've been coming up here to try and see if I could get a stronger reading and figure out what it is, but… Well, I haven't been having much luck," Pidge grumbled out, annoyed. He adjusted his equipment somewhat, muttering to himself when nothing changed.

Hunk sat beside him, a curious look in his eye. "Have you tried bending to get any other readings, or has it just been this tracker you've been using?"

Pidge side-eyed him, a thoughtful look on his face. "I doubt I could do much if the signal isn't something living," his eyes lit up in sudden hope, " _but_ , you could use your bending to adjust the polarity of the signal and strengthen its transmission, couldn't you?"

"I don't know, Pidge," Hunk admitted, a hand to the back of his head, "I mean, like you said, we don't know what this signal even is."

"You can at least try!" Pidge said, jumping up from his spot with equipment in hand. "Come on! We'll down to a better spot on the cliffside. That way, you'll have an easier time manipulating the polarity of the reading!"

"Oh, man," Hunk groaned, but followed after his excited teammate without further protest.

Lance, as usual when Hunk and Pidge got like this, was a bit lost, but knew enough to at least try and contribute to the conversation.

"Why are you so interested in this reading anyways?" he asked, following beside Hunk as the two followed Pidge to leave the Garrison headquarters. "I mean, it's mysterious and stuff, but how'd you find it in the first place?"

Pidge barely hesitated in answering Lance's question. "I was testing my equipment just to make sure all of it was still working, and I ended up picking up on this signal. Now shush before we get caught!"

With that, the three remained silent until they had successfully left the Garrison. Once they were seated on a cliffside a ways from the headquarters, out of any possible prying eyes. With Pidge's equipment set back up, Hunk placed his hands to the ground, eyes closed in concentration.

"Can you feel the signal, bud?" Lance asked him, though Pidge punched him the shoulder for it with another _shush!_

Hunk mumbled to himself, the ground beneath him trembling ever so slightly in his concentration. After a sudden exclaimed _ah ha!_ from him, both Lance and Pidge could feel a subtle shift in the ground, their balance thrown off from the odd sensation. Before they knew it, Pidge's sensor was going off the charts, the signal from it coming in stronger than ever before. Hunk remained kneeled on the ground in concentration, but Pidge ran to his equipment, face lit up in pure joy.

"It's working! I—" he cut himself off, eyes going wide. His head whipped around frantically, as though he was searching for something.

"Pidge, uh, you okay?" Lance approached him cautiously.

"That way!" Pidge pointed in a general direction, far into the desert. "There's something living out there, I can feel it!"

With that, the tremors of the ground and the odd shift in the air died down. Hunk stood back up from his position, glancing in the direction Pidge pointed in. He looked nervous, likely having felt the signal himself as Pidge was at that moment, but barely put up any protest from Pidge gathering up his equipment once more and darting off into the desert.

"Oh man, what are we doing?" he whined, following after Pidge reluctantly.

"Come on, man! I bet this'll be the find of a century!" Lance boasted, heading out with much more gusto. Pidge had taken off ahead already, and Lance ran to catch up to him.

They searched for a good few hours, Hunk's nervousness coming and going in spurts. By that point, he appeared to be more eager to get back to the Garrison before anyone noticed their absences, but both Pidge and Lance insisted on finding the source of the signal first. Every so often Hunk would concentrate his abilities back on the polarity of the signal, and Pidge would continually have to readjust their travel direction, but overall Lance figured they had to be making progress.

Daylight was slowly making its way to the horizon when they finally found it. It was a large rock formation, sticking out of the side of a tall canyon wall. At closer examination, it appeared to be some sort of old ruin. Pidge had trilled in joy when they found it, inspecting every inch of the ancient ruins. Lance held back as even Hunk began to follow up with checking out the intricate designs and feel of the structure, and noticed something odd.

The formation, at a second glance, had an almost ship-like shape to it, and had to have been much larger than he originally assumed. It looked as though it led deep into the canyon mountain it was entrapped in, and it didn't take him long to notice what appeared to be a doorway off to the side of the exposed parts of the ruins. Finally approaching the structure, Lance put his hands up to the door, dusting off dirt and grime from likely years of buildup. There was no noticeable way to open the door, and even if there was, he doubted that he'd be able to open it anyways. The whole structure was covered in thick rust, and he doubted opening it would be easy for a water bender. A _land_ bender, though…

"Yo, Hunk! Over here!" he called for his best friend, catching his attention.

Apparently, Hunk and Pidge had been tinkering with the sensor equipment and looking at the signal readings, but both ran over to look at Lance's finding.

"Think you can open this door, here?" Lance asked once Hunk and Pidge took the door in. "I mean, it's metal or something, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it definitely is, but I couldn't tell what kind of metal it is," Hunk responded, looking uncertain. "I mentioned it to Pidge, but I don't think I've ever come across something like this before."

"Do you think it's from one of the other nations?" Pidge queried, hand to his chin in thought. "You know how often the other nations keep things to themselves."

"Bet it's from the Galra," Lance muttered, distaste showing in his voice.

The world in which Lance, Hunk, and Pidge lived on was a large planet, situated in its own mystical place in the universe. Unsurprisingly, many races and nations existed on the planet of Terra, with theories that most were alien species from a time long ago, left to their own devices after the means of space travel and teleportation were long gone and forgotten. They all existed in relative peace, relative meaning that all races attempted to coexist while the Galra empire made its way across the planet in order to rule it.

Thankfully, the humans remained fairly well protected in their small nation, considering that a majority of humans were water benders, with many land benders amongst them. The Galra were almost exclusively fire benders, which fell easily to water and was ineffective against land. Of course, there were always the more powerful Galra fire benders that could bend lightning and electricity, striking down water benders, but that was why land benders were so important. They were heavily relied on for protection.

Lance had always wondered how much more protected the humans would be if they had more wind benders, since they were so scarce amongst their race. Mind benders and fire benders were unheard of in humans, so Lance didn't know much about either (especially mind benders), but he at least knew enough wind benders to know that they could be a huge benefit to humans if there were more. That was his own ignorance about other races speaking, though. He knew wind, fire, mind, and even nature benders were more common in other races and nations, all of which could keep themselves relatively protected, but he still wondered. Considering what little he did know of non-humans, could this structure they found reasonably be from the Galra? Or perhaps some other race? Perhaps one long-forgotten by time?

A loud, metallic clang brought Lance out of his thoughts, the screeching painful to his ears. He brought his hands to his ears to drown out the sound, but Hunk thankfully had finished opening the door to the ruins in no time. Lance was surprised to find the door having slid open to remain within the wall. Sliding doors were uncommon, everyone usually relying on swinging doors, but this was some technologically advanced structure, wasn't it? His theory of it being some giant battleship remained firmly in the back of his mind.

"Uh, guys, do you really think we should be here messing with this stuff?" Hunk questioned, nervously wringing his hands together, sweat running down his brow.

The interior of the (battleship?) ruins was dark and musty, clearly having been unused for many years (possibly centuries?). Pidge pulled a small flashlight from his bag, waving the light around the place. Lance wondered if either he or Hunk knew what they were looking at, because he sure as hell didn't. It was a small, empty room with random devices littered off to the side and within the walls. Another door sat at the opposite end of the room, which Pidge conned Hunk into opening up with his metal bending.

There was no need for Pidge's flashlight once they entered the next room, as two lights from the middle of the area illuminated the entire space. The white and grey glowing spots held two figures, one in each light, and the three apprentice summoners were stopped in their tracks.

"Guys, I think there's _people_ in there," Hunk whispered in a panic, gripping onto Pidge's shoulders tightly.

"No way," Lance let loose. He slowly approached the lights, confirming that there were in fact people within them, both appearing as though they were in a peaceful slumber. He could hear Hunk gasping in a concerned breath, but turn back to look at him. Slowly, he reached up a daring hand, lightly touching the white light of the figure before him.

At once, a circular panel to his left lit up in a bright blue, followed by two panels to his right lighting up in green and yellow respectively. He didn't even have time to scream in surprise before the lights strengthened to take over the entire room, blinding them all. Before he knew it, there was someone in his arms, and he gripped them firmly, not wanting to drop whoever it was.

Once the lights died down, there was a soft illumination keeping the room visible, but the two lights form the slumbering people in the room were gone, and in their place were two suddenly very awake people. One of these people was being held by Lance, a young woman pale hair, accentuated by her dark skin and elegant dress. Needless to say, she was one of the most beautiful people Lance had ever laid eyes on. A damsel in need of rescuing, and he would be her hero; her knight in shining armor.

The woman looked up at him in confusion, still trying to get her bearings. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Lance, and you're right here in my arms," he responded, sly grin on his face.

His flirting didn't last very long once he was manhandled to ground and having his life threatened by said damsel in distress.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite their rocky start and the two strangers' mistrust, Pidge and Hunk had managed to calm them both down, though the woman kept throwing discreet glares in Lance's direction. Pidge had to do her very best not to snicker at this, considering Lance had had it coming. While there had been mass confusion at first, a soft glow from the pocket of the woman's dress had been what stopped her assault of Lance. The older man with the moustache had paused in his attempts to apprehend Pidge and Hunk once the glowing began, and for a moment everyone had been silent.

The woman pulled a blue, luminescent gem from her pocket, staring at it in astonishment.

" _Isamu_?" she said in disbelief. "Are you really Isamu?"

"Am I really _what_?" Lance repeated, rubbing the arm the woman had used to take him down with.

"Princess," the older man interrupted softly. "Look around us."

The so-called princess paused, hand clenched tightly over the blue gem. She looked around the room they sat in, eyes widening considerably as something akin to horror began to dawn on her face.

"No way," she breathed out, nearly inaudible. "No, this can't be!" she said louder, the pitch of her voice rising in panic.

She looked around where she was, in the center of the raised platform at the back of the room, five circular panels on the ground in front of her, three of which were softly lit up. Within seconds, she held her hands out before her, white light shining from her powers as an array of holographic screens and maps appeared before her. The man walked up beside her to take a look, and almost instantly both of their faces, panicked yet inquisitive, fell to something akin to heartbreak.

Pidge, at the time, had been initially more interested in the technology before her, as something like it had yet to be achieved on Terra, at least to her knowledge. Once she saw the crushed faces of the princess and the older man though, she couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling that had settled in her gut.

"We were asleep for ten thousand years," the princess spoke so quietly that Pidge barely caught it. "Everyone's…" She stopped talking, fighting back a hitch in her throat.

The older man put a comforting hand to her shoulder, putting on a brave face for the woman. Once she got herself under control, she reached a hand up to brush aside some of the screens in front of her.

"Coran, are we the only ones left?"

The man—Coran—didn't say anything, hesitant to answer her, and Pidge could see the confliction on his face. "Yes, Princess, I believe we're the only Alteans left."

Wait, wait, _Alteans_? Pidge sat there, stunned. Alteans were a race of legend, something that most people believed had been a myth. The stories told of their technological brilliance, their advancements unrivaled on Terra. They had been the leading experts paving the way through technological discoveries, bringing the world back to the age of space travel it had once encompassed. She could barely believe that all of those myths had apparently rung true, but here the proof was before her. Two Alteans, and technology that Terrans couldn't yet fathom let alone create.

The woman—who was supposedly the princess of the Alteans—shook her head, unclenching her hand to stare back at the glowing blue gem in her palm.

"It was inevitable after the Galra turned on us, you know that. Once we lost Romelle, your father knew there was no hope of us fighting the Galra off. He hoped that, in order to preserve the Altean race and the powers of Voltron, sealing you away with the power gems and the Ark would be fitting."

"But, without the gems, then the other paladins…" the princess's breath hitched again, a realization Pidge did not understand hitting her. "They were as good as dead. They couldn't fight back without the legendary guardians!"

"It was hopeless, Princess. Only the chosen lineage could control the power gems and Voltron. Without your sister to bring life to the Ark, Voltron couldn't be formed, and our only defense against the Galra was gone. No one else could have taken up her mantle. You know that; it was only a week before that you had tried to activate your sister's gem of mind."

The princess didn't respond to Coran's words, staring solemnly at the blue gem still glowing in her hand. When it was quiet long enough, Lance made to approach the two, but was stopped when the princess brought her attention to him. She looked at him long and hard, as though sizing him up, then proceeded to bring her gaze between both him and the blue gem.

"Coran, the power gems only respond to those of the proper lineage. Does that mean that this human there is Isamu's descendant?"

The ginger-haired Altean peered at Lance, scrutinizing him. "Well, I'd dare say so!" he blurted out, clapping his hands together in sudden cheer. The shift in mood threw Pidge for a loop, and she could hear Hunk laughing nervously beside her. "Come up here, young man! Don't be afraid!" he beckoned at Lance, who looked back at Pidge and Hunk with a pleading look on his face.

"Well, go on!" Pidge urged. "I want to see where this goes!"

"What if they kill him?" Hunk whispered.

"Oh yeah, thanks for the good vibes, man," Lance muttered, turning back to approach the two Alteans on the raised altar.

He stood before the princess and Coran, a wary look on his face. Pidge could see it; the look he wore whenever he thought he'd try to be funny or flirtatious. She almost mentally facepalmed over it. As Lance opened his mouth, likely to say something cocky, the princess held her hand out to him, offering him the blue gem.

"If you truly are Isamu's descendant, then take the gem of water. If it truly accepts you, then…" she trailed off, looking uncertain of herself.

Lance reached his hand out, pausing momentarily to glance back at the princess's face, though her eyes were turned away from him. He turned his attention back to the gem and grabbed it. Within moments, Lance was encompassed by a bright blue light, the same blinding light as before appearing before dimming away. Once Pidge could see again, she saw Lance, though his clothes were now different.

In place of his shirt and jacket were now a dark blue, intricate tunic, a white undershirt visible from the neckline. His left arm was adorned with a lighter blue sleeve, extending down to just above his wrist. A grey sash held his tunic together, leading down to his white pants and black boots. The designs of water droplets and waves designed his sash and sleeve, with some slight markings working up the side of his right pantleg. Then, on his right wrist was a silver bracelet, the blue gem encrusted in the center and illuminating brightly.

Pidge was speechless. Out of nowhere, ordinary water bender Lance had suddenly become someone radiating power. As a nature bender, it was natural for Pidge to be able to feel out people's life forces and magical strength, but with the magical properties radiating off of Lance, Pidge suspected that even Hunk could feel it.

"This is…" Lance began, astounded. "This is _awesome_!" he then exclaimed. "Dude, Hunk, Pidge; do you see this? I've never felt so powerful like this before!"

The princess regarded the excited human before her as both Pidge and Hunk ran up the altar to check their friend out. His magical properties felt even stronger once Pidge got up close, and she couldn't help but turn to the princess in awe.

"Ma'am, what _is_ this?" she asked.

"He is now the blue paladin of Voltron; the paladin of water," she sighed. "The gem of water chose him. The only thing that could mean is that he's the descendant of Isamu, the last blue paladin."

"You keep mentioning this Voltron and these gems. I mean, what exactly are those?"

The princess shared a look with Coran, who continued for her. "Voltron is the embodiment of the legendary guardians! Surely you've heard of them!"

Pidge stared at him quizzically, not immediately understanding before Hunk spoke up.

"Um, you mean like, uh, Bahamut and Leviathan?" he asked, nervousness slowly filtering away in favor of curiosity.

"Exactly!" Coran responded, clapping Hunk on the shoulder, causing the poor man to jump.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on," Lance chimed in, hands in the air. "Aren't the legendary guardians just a myth or something?"

"Well," Pidge muttered, "so are Alteans, yet here we are."

"The legendary guardians," Coran continued, unperturbed, "are Alexander, Bahamut, Leviathan, Phoenix, the Magus Sisters, and Ark. When their powers combine together with the Ark, its true power awakens in the form of Voltron, the true legendary guardian!" He played with his moustache as his ramble continued on. "The only way to bring forth the legendary guardians and harness their power was through the power gems that Princess Allura's father created, and even then, only those chosen by the gems were able to summon them. For ages, we used Voltron's power to protect Terra and its knowledge, but all of that ended when our white paladin, Allura's sister Romelle, was murdered by the Galra."

"So, what you're saying is that I can summon a legendary guardian now?" Lance asked in a near whisper of excitement. "Like, my powers haven't just gotten stronger, but I can literally summon, like, Leviathan or something?"

"Yes, the blue paladin can summon Leviathan," the princess (Allura, Pidge guessed) spoke up, "but, unfortunately, you can't at your current state."

All excitement died from Lance's eyes, his shoulders sagging considerably. "What do you mean 'my current state'? I'm super powerful now, aren't I?"

"You must prove your worth to Leviathan before he can truly accept you. There were six altars placed all throughout the Altean nation, each carrying the power to unlock the paladins' latent abilities and allow them to make contact with the legendary guardians. Until we get you to Leviathan's altar, you won't be summoning him any time soon."

Lance still appeared disappointed, but relief filled his eyes at the information.

So, that was how they found themselves where they were now, huddled in a back room of the structure (which supposedly _was_ the Ark, which Pidge found confusing). It was a living area, six beds adorning the walls, two within each wall aside from the one with the entrance. In the middle was a large, circular indent in the floor, a couch lining the walls of said indent. That was where the small group sat as Pidge took note of Allura's hilarious side-eyed glares at Lance. By that time, Lance's blue paladin outfit had disappeared and he found himself back in his usual clothes, though he kept the blue bracelet on his wrist.

It didn't take long for Allura to pull out two more stones from her pocket, yellow and green in color. As she told them, they were the gems of land and nature respectively, and were reacting to Pidge and Hunk. Somehow, they too were descendants of past paladins, and had managed to find their way together with Lance to the Ark where their destinies laid in sleep. Pidge didn't _want_ to believe in fate like that, but the coincidences were too eerie to ignore.

"Pidge, was it?" Allura asked, addressing her. Pidge nodded her head in acknowledgement. "It looks as though you are the green paladin; the paladin of nature. Your ancestor, Hiroshi, was brilliant, even among Altean standards. I can definitely see some of him in you."

Pidge could feel herself brighten up at the princess's words, touched by her implied praise. Vaguely, she wondered if Allura could see similar similarities between Lance and Isamu.

"And Hunk, do you know that you share the same nickname as our yellow paladin did?"

"Huh? Ah, I mean, really?" he asked, flustered with a hand to the back of his neck.

"Yes. His name was Tsuyoshi, but everyone always just called him Hunk. He was a larger man like you; very strong. He was always so protective of the other paladins, too. You could always rely on him. The paladin of land became something of a title for someone that you could depend on to support you."

Lance gave a dramatic stretch, hooking an arm around Hunk's shoulders. "Yeah, that sounds like Hunk, alright. He's always got our backs in battle, right Pidge?"

Pidge snorted, adjusting her glasses. "Of course. _Someone_ has to save us from ourselves. We're all atrocious at fighting with our guardians."

Allura cringed at that information, giving the three skeptical looks.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said that, Pidge. I mean, it's kind of our job to summon legendary guardians now, or something," Hunk said under his breath, the stage whisper carrying over to the princess's ears. Her face only grew more annoyed at the comment.

At seeing Pidge's completely unapologetic face, Allura sighed and clenched her fist over the two glowing stones. "Well, the gems only choose those of the paladin lineage who are worthy. Even if you three are less than orthodox, I have to trust the gems' judgement. I doubt they'll choose anyone else at this point," she muttered the last bit to herself.

Thrusting her fist out at both Pidge and Hunk, she opened her hand to offer them their power gems. Pidge took the green one while Hunk grabbed the yellow one, and at once the room was filled with blinding green and yellow lights.

"Princess! You'll never believe what I—!" Coran had to stop himself and cover his eyes as he entered the living space. As the lights died down, he, Allura, and Lance all stared at the new paladins in their outfits, the power of land and nature emanating from their bodies.

Pidge took in her own outfit first. She wore what appeared to be a loose, white dress shirt. Over that she wore a vest of a soft, light green, designs of leaves and vines adorning it, the trim of the vest a deep, bronze color. Upon her shoulders a small, deep forest green cape was attached to her vest. The cape reached just to her waist, and upon closer inspection also had intricate forest designs. Her dress shirt ended just past her waist, and was held together with a belt, not unlike one she often saw worn by adventurers. On her legs she wore dark brown shorts, so dark that they almost appeared black at first glance, which ended just at her knees. Unlike Lance, she wore no boots, and was instead barefoot. Feeling an odd sensation on her left ear, she reached up and felt an earring there, and realized that it must be encrusted by the gem of nature.

When she was done taking her own outfit, she noticed Hunk staring in awe at himself. The cloth he wore as a headband was still present, surprisingly, though the rest of his clothes were replaced. He wore a tunic similar to Lance's, though he wore no undershirt and had a light brown sleeve on only his right arm, which ended at the fingerless glove that he wore. The tunic itself was golden in color, mountains and rock formations designing its edges. His black sash was less fancy than Lances, acting merely as a belt to hold the tunic together. Under the tunic and sash were his pants, just barely a darker shade of brown than his sleeve, and ended just above his ankles. Like Pidge, Hunk was barefoot, and like Lance, his gem was in the form of a bracelet, though it was golden and on his left wrist.

With the amount of power resonating from Hunk, as well as her own amplified power, Pidge was beginning to feel woozy from the overwhelming stimuli. Someone gently took her arm and guided her back down into a sitting position on the couch (when had she even stood up?), which she greatly appreciated.

"Pidge, you okay?" Lance asked her, eyebrows pinched together and frown apparent. Of course he had been the one to help her down.

"Yeah, just a little nauseous. My power's stronger now, and I can feel Hunk's power, and it's just a little much," she admitted, focusing her gaze onto the concerned faces of Lance, Allura, and Hunk.

Within seconds, Hunk dropped his paladin form, regaining his old clothes and lessened power. His bracelet was still on his left wrist, just as Lance's remained on his right. The relief was instant for Pidge, who sighed in contentment. She too dropped her paladin form, no longer feeling like she was on the verge of puking.

"Well, can't say I'm surprised!" Coran spoke up, still standing in the room's entrance. "You're a nature bender, after all! Hiroshi had the same issue when he first became a paladin as well! If you're anything like your ancestor though, then you'll learn how to better channel your senses in no time!"

"Right," Pidge mumbled in response, finding herself smooshed on the couch between Lance and Hunk, her oddly worried teammates.

"Coran, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Allura asked, if only to relieve the awkward tension in the air.

"Oh! That's right!" he exclaimed, reaching down to pick something up. "I was cooking something up from the remains of our food supply when I found these!"

In Coran's hands were four mice, all sniffing the air curiously before taking notice of Allura. The mice perked up and appeared eager to approach her. At least, that's what Pidge was getting, and normally she trusted her nature abilities in that aspect.

"Uh, a bunch of mice?" Lance stared hard at the creatures in Coran's hands.

"Oh, how interesting!" Allura perked up, clearly much more interested than the blue paladin.

She stood from her seat on the couch and approached Coran, eagerly taking the mice into her own hands. The mice went to her without hesitation, as though they wanted nothing more than to be with Allura. If Pidge's senses were correct, then that was exactly what they wanted, though she couldn't fathom why.

"They were sealed away with us, Coran!"

"Yes, that's what I figured. I might not be a nature bender or a mind bender, but I can still tell they're from the Ark!"

Allura gazed at the mice, holding a silent conversation with them. "It's interesting," she began, looking back up at Coran. "Normally I can't understand what animals are trying to tell me—that's always been a nature bender's job, not a mind bender's—but it's as if I can hear their words directly in my head."

"Wait a minute, you're a _mind_ bender?" Lance asked from his spot on the couch. "And you can read those mice's minds?"

From beside her, Pidge could hear Hunk's almost inaudible whisper of "I've never seen a mind bender before…"

"Wait, then what's Coran?" Lance continued.

"Perhaps it's because you were sealed away with them for ten thousand years, Princess!" Coran answered her, completely ignoring Lance.

"That might be the case," Allura smiled, cradling the mice close to her. Pidge could already tell they would be inseparable.

With their excitement over the mice having passed, Coran announced his departure to finish cooking, Hunk gleefully following after him to help out. Once the food arrived, the five sat around the couch, digging in. It was pretty obvious who had cooked what, as Coran's food was next to inedible, but Hunk's cooking did more than make up for that.

"Delicious as usual, Hunk!" Lance commented, Coran sulking not-so-discreetly nearby.

They sat and talked until they were all full, which was when Pidge finally noticed how silent Allura had been the entire time.

"Hey Allura, what's up?" she asked, hoping to bring her in to their conversation. If they were her paladins now, she wanted them all to get along at the very least.

Allura glanced up at her quickly, slight surprise on her face at being addressed. She glanced off to the side, lightly biting her lip before looking back at Pidge. Before saying anything, she sighed and closed her eyes. Pidge hadn't noticed before, but the princess had been keeping her hand clenched tight since finishing her meal.

"I was just thinking," she sighed once more, "you know, about what needs to be done now." Her eyes opened, and she took in her company. All eyes were on her. "What you guys have been talking about has been bothering me. You say the Galra empire is still strong and tormenting all life on Terra. You've all been in training to become summoners in order to protect your nation and fight them off. So really, nothing has changed since my father sealed both Coran and I away. The paladins of Voltron are still needed."

"That's why we're here, Princess," Lance boasted, putting a fist to his chest. "We're gonna take down the Galra empire and make sure everyone on Terra is safe."

"You say it like that now, but I'm sure you'll be screaming like a little girl once we actually get onto a battlefield," Pidge snickered.

"Yeah, you know, if we don't accidentally kill each other with our guardians before then," Hunk supplied.

Allura cleared her voice to get their attention back. "Listen, if we're going to stop the Galra empire, then we need to find the other paladins. As it stands, we only have three of the six right now. We need to find the ancestors of Akira, Sven, and…and Romelle." She glanced over uncertainly at Coran. "Romelle wouldn't have any descendants, though. You and I are the only Alteans left."

"Wait, Allura, the gems run by lineage, don't they? You're a part of your sister's lineage. Can't you take up her role?" Pidge questioned, head cocked to the side in interest.

Another sigh was released as Allura finally unclenched her hand. In her palm laid a white stone, dull and lifeless. The three humans stared at the stone, uncomprehending, yet still having a vague understanding of what that stone meant to Allura. Coran's face remained stoic, though Pidge could sense almost pity in his gaze.

"This is the gem of mind," Allura uttered softly. "The gem of my sister, the white paladin. It's not reacting to me as the other stones did to the rest of you."

Allura radiated disappointment, and Pidge could only imagine what other emotions she was going through. Sadness, at the loss of her kingdom, race, culture, and family. Hurt, at the fact that she was being rejected over something she clearly was passionate about. Resignation over the fact that they might not be able to find a white paladin. How would they be able to summon Voltron and stop the Galra empire without a white paladin? Pidge didn't need to be a mind bender to understand Allura's pain.

With the revelation that Allura was unable to activate the gem of mind, everyone sat in silence, contemplating the implications of such a thing.

"We should still try to find the other paladins," Allura finally broke the silence, clenching her fist over the gem again. "The least we can do is try to find the red and black paladins. Perhaps," she stopped herself, taking in a deep breath, "perhaps we will locate the true white paladin along the way."

"Where would we even begin on trying to find someone's descendants?" Hunk asked, toying with the empty plate in his hands. "If those paladins died ten thousand years ago, I have no idea how we could track their descendants down."

"Wait, if you guys are the only Alteans left, and those other paladins have descendants, does that mean they weren't Altean?" Leave it to Lance to always bring up off-topic points.

Coran nodded his head, sticking up his pointer finger. "That's right! They were all different races, though clearly somewhere down the line you guys became almost solely human. You see, Hiroshi was an Olkari, Hunk—the old Hunk, mind you—was a Balmeran, Isamu was a Merfolk, and Akira was a Galra! The only actual human in the group was Sven!"

The fact that they all had such blood running through their veins was surprising to say the least, though in hindsight it made perfect sense to Pidge. She certainly had the intellect of an Olkari, that was certain. She could definitely see Hunk as a Balmeran, too. Still, the foreign blood running through them had to be miniscule, if even still present at all. After ten thousand years, Pidge could safely assume that she was nearly one hundred percent human, along with Lance and Hunk.

"How could one of the paladins have been a Galra?" Lance questioned, a disgusted look gracing his face.

"Believe it or not, the Alteans and the Galra used to get along quite well! Many of our technological advancements were made with the help of the Galra. Akira was probably the most loyal of our paladins, and even when the Galra turned on us, he was the first to rush into battle with Phoenix at his side. I remember Alfor, just before sealing me away, telling me that Akira was fighting Lord Zarkon alongside Sven, avenging the death of Romelle."

Coran looked like he was about to go on, but stopped after noticing the stunned faces of the paladins. "What? Is what I said that shocking?"

"Did you say Lord _Zarkon_?" Lance blurted out, always the one to point out when something was off.

"Yes, do you know the name?"

"Do I know the name? _Everyone_ knows that name! He's the current ruler of the Galra empire!"

At that, it was Allura's and Coran's turn to sit stunned.

"That has to be a mistake. Zarkon can't possibly still be alive after ten thousand years! Did Lotor decide to pass Zarkon's name down? Did Zarkon have another son and name him after himself? I just—" Allura cut herself off, taking a deep breath and clenching her hands in her lap. "I must be overreacting. He can't still be alive."

"Uh, dude," Hunk spoke up, Lance having been shocked silent. "That Zarkon guy, he _has_ a son named Lotor. Like, the guy ruling the Galra right now, not your guy. And as far as I know, Zarkon's been in control of the Galra empire for like, a really long time." Hunk tried to count something off on his fingers, though Pidge couldn't tell what.

Deciding to add to the fun, Pidge put in her two cents. "You know, there aren't actually any records of the Galra empire ever having a different ruler. As far as _anyone_ knows, not just Hunk, he's always been the ruler. So, I mean, it sounds improbable, but it could very likely be the same guy. Probably the same son as well, if we're being honest."

The two Alteans stared at the humans in near horror, and Pidge couldn't blame them. Though it was difficult to believe, the present day Zarkon was likely the same guy as the past Zarkon that the Alteans knew. If this was the same guy who had lead the Galra to destroy an entire race and the technology that it had created, throwing all of Terra into its rule, then they were in for a ride. If there was one thing Pidge had learned that day, it was that they were now the chosen summoners of Voltron, and they needed to find the other paladins before Zarkon caught wind of the legendary guardians' resurrections.

Then maybe, just _maybe_ , Pidge could find what she was truly looking for along the way. If she couldn't get the information she needed from the Guardian Garrison, then either the Alteans or the Galra had to lead her in the right direction. They just had to.


	3. Chapter 3

Considering the three humans had spent their entire night searching the desert for some vague life signal, they were all understandably tired, and Hunk was quick to follow once Lance passed out on one of the beds in the living area. They took the two beds on the back wall, Lance on the left and Hunk on the right.

Pidge had set out into the main room (where the Alteans had been found sealed away) with Coran and Allura. While Hunk was initially worried about him not sleeping, he couldn't say he was shocked. Pidge seemed like the kind of guy who would sacrifice sleep for information. He had seen the way Pidge's eyes lit up every time one of the Alteans had used the technology of the Ark, and how eager he had been to learn more about their history and the evolution of their advancements. Either way, Hunk knew _he_ was dead tired, and would worry about his friend's sleep schedule later.

With Lance's deep breaths telling him that he was out cold already, Hunk closed his eyes and focused on following after him. He was close to drifting off as he heard the door to the room slide open and closed, soft pattering moving across the large space. Squinting his eyes open just a little, Hunk could see Pidge settling down on top of the bed in the wall directly beside his. The angle was off due to this, but he could still barely what his friend was doing.

Pidge was sitting on the bed, back to the wall with a laptop of some sort in his lap. The repetitive tapping of a keyboard was heard as he began typing away on it, and Hunk could only wonder where Pidge had gotten it from. Had he had it on him already? Had it been with his sensory equipment, or had Coran given it to him perhaps? Hunk figured he was probably overthinking it, but he had to admit he was curious about it.

Still, as much as he'd like to know what Pidge was up to, Hunk was admittedly more interested in getting some sleep, and so sleep he did. He could ask Pidge what was up in the morning.

Morning had come and gone, and Hunk felt exhausted. Allura had woken them up mere hours after they had finally gotten to sleep, not that Hunk's sleep had been all that restful. He had been unable to fall asleep, even after Lance's light snores could be heard beside him. There had been too many worries running through his head; too many doubts.

What was going to happen now? Would he be able to go back to the Garrison? To his family? He and his family were close, and he knew it was the same for Lance. They had been such close childhood friends after all, and had seen more than enough of each other's families. If they were off fighting alongside mythological Alteans and their legendary guardians, there was no way they could return to them. Hunk had heard more than enough from Pidge the few times they had talked since forming a team at the Garrison. Pidge had made it pretty clear that he didn't trust the Garrison, and that the whole organization was hiding things from them. How Pidge knew this Hunk wasn't certain, but he trusted him.

If the Garrison found out about any of this, they would be put under lockdown. If their families knew about this, then they would be in danger. Those were the facts. Hunk so desperately wanted to return to his parents and tell them all that had happened, but realistically that wasn't going to happen, was it? The three of them would go missing, the Garrison would announce them AWOL, and their names would be shamed; their families scared and missing them. He knew this for sure for his and Lance's families, and he was sure the Gundersons would miss Pidge and be looking for him, too.

That all being said, Hunk had maybe one to two hours of sleep before the Ark's alarms had blared, Allura testing the three humans for their reaction times. Not having been satisfied by the less than adequate results, she and Coran had proceeded with training them on how to better work with their guardians. While Hunk had thought the Garrison to be extreme in its training, the Alteans had been ruthless. All day it had gone on, their only break being allowed against Allura's wishes by Coran.

Now Hunk was collapsed on the couch in the living area. Pidge was speaking with Coran again, pointing out different things on that laptop of his. It hurt a little, as Hunk had always assured Pidge that he would help out if he ever needed any technological assistance, but with how technologically advanced the Alteans were, it was understandable. Coran especially knew what he was talking about, eccentric as he was, and was leagues above either Hunk or Pidge when it came to that stuff. Meanwhile, Lance was still eating the green goo Coran had obtained for them. Some machine in the kitchen had been fixed for the sole purpose of producing the stuff, and somehow Lance had taken to it (though it took a while to grow on him).

They had done so much training that day, and yet Hunk felt like he had learned nothing. Allura had said before that the yellow paladin was the support of the group, and yet he felt more like a hindrance. He would try to protect Lance and Pidge with his land bending, but only get in their way and ruin their shots. Titan was a problem, too. Hunk was always so nervous about summoning him and using any of his powers, because every time without fail everyone would be taken out by his earthquakes, friend and foe alike. Truly, he didn't know if he was fit for being a summoner, let alone a paladin of the legendary guardians. The gem had chosen him though, and Allura herself had said it only chose those of the bloodline worthy of being a paladin. If he trusted his friends, then he had to trust in whatever magical technology the Alteans had.

Looking over at Lance, Hunk was about to say something, perhaps to voice his worries and complain about his exhaustion, but the alarms blared once more. Lance's head shot up, though the look on his face was of pure annoyance.

"Man, they can't give us even an hour to rest? We've been at it all day!" he threw his hands up, plate of goo falling to the floor.

Hunk winced at the mess, though Lance moved to remedy the issue quickly.

"I mean, seriously," Lance continued, putting the plate and goo more properly on the floor, "Pidge already went off on Allura once today. I doubt he's going to tolerate any more of this."

The two got up and walked through the door to the command center, Allura standing at the controls with numerous holographs before her. Pidge and Coran were already there, studying the holographs with her.

"What's up?" Lance asked, walking up to stand beside Pidge. Hunk followed him, standing just behind the two.

What they were looking at was some sort of signal, located on the edge of what was apparently Arusian territory. Hunk stared quizzically at the map before him, as he hadn't realized that they had wandered so far out of the human territory last night. He knew that the two races were close neighbors, but it was still surprising for him.

"A Galra escape ship just crashed at the very edge of the Arusian territory," Allura confirmed. "It's bordering on neutral ground, but I doubt the territories have remained completely intact after ten thousand years. The maps we're seeing here are likely off."

"Let me see," Pidge offered, and Allura expanded the map so that they could all properly see. Pidge studied the map for some time, apparently deep in thought. "Arus is such a small territory, probably smaller than what's shown here. I'm guessing that Galra ship is further into neutral territory and closer to a stretch of Galra territory there. What do you think that ship was doing, though?" His eyes widened, as though a light had gone off in his head. "Do you think some prisoners managed to escape?"

"I'm not sure," Allura replied, hand to her chin. "We should check it out, though. If the Galra have settled closer to Arus, we can't allow them to move in any further."

"Okay, so, I'm all for rescuing Arus and stopping the Galra and stuff, but don't you think we're a little unprepared?" Hunk asked, not wanting to be the downer, but nervous nonetheless. _Someone_ had to be a realist here.

"That may be so, but the only way I can imagine you three getting better with your powers any time soon is if you have actual experience against the Galra." Allura gave them a stern look, and Hunk could only gulp. He definitely did not feel prepared to go up against even a single Galra, let alone however many might be out there.

Coran strolled up, one hand behind his back and the other pointing a finger upwards. "Allura's right, Number One!" Coran had already explained his naming system to them earlier, which had initially annoyed Pidge and made Lance laugh. "We don't know what might be in that escape ship, but if it is a Galra, then now's the perfect time to show off what you've learned today!"

"Right," Allura continued, "I can use my power to open up a wormhole and teleport you three near the site of the crash."

"Wait, you can open wormholes with this ship?" Pidge asked, multiple emotions flashing across his face.

"Of course, though the Ark is asleep at the moment, many of its functions are still intact so long as a strong enough mind bender is at the controls. It is a legendary guardian, after all."

"Which _still_ freaks me out," Lance muttered back towards Hunk, who simply nodded.

Flinging her hands out and concentrating her powers, a mystical energy began forming at the front of the room, and soon opened up to show a different place entirely.

"Alright!" Coran began shooing them. "Hurry and head on through the portal! Make sure you transform into your paladin forms the moment you make it through!"

Allura nodded, hands still out in concentration. "Make sure you figure out what's going on with the Galra ship as soon as possible. With the Ark's systems down like they are now, I can only keep the wormhole open for at most two hours. You'll have to find your own way back if you don't make it in time."

"Right, got it," Hunk murmured, already feeling the sweat running down his brow.

Lance and Pidge had already transformed to their paladin forms, and Hunk followed suit, the three heading through the portal as soon as he was done.

The crash site hadn't been that difficult to locate, as Allura had stayed true to her word of teleporting them close to it. It helped that some Arusian citizens were already poking around and investigating the ship. Lance ran forward at the sight of this, making a show of announcing himself.

"Alright, alright, time to back off, guys. Us paladins have got this!" he announced, scaring the three visible Arusians.

One of them immediately pointed its spear at Lance, who stopped and put his hands up. It didn't look particularly threatening, but Hunk knew Lance didn't want to aggravate them further.

"Listen, we're the paladins of Voltron, and we're here to make sure nothing dangerous is in that ship," Lance amended, voice having softened.

"He's right, we don't know if there're any Galra in there that could harm you," Pidge added.

The Arusian had seemed wary, but with the mention of Voltron, he and his two companions had gone silent in shock. Hunk wasn't sure what to say, unknowing if he should attempt to comfort the Arusians or even ask them what they knew about Voltron. Was this good or bad? There wasn't much time to dwell on it though, as Lance was already making his way into the ship, Pidge right behind him. Hunk thought it best if perhaps he stayed outside and watched for Galra or any sudden hostile actions by the Arusians, but a sudden cry from Lance grabbed his attention.

At once Hunk was inside the ship and in the small control room, ready to use his powers if necessary. He could hear one of the Arusians right behind him, but ignored it in favor of who Lance was fawning over in the pilot's seat.

"Is that _Shiro_?" Hunk asked, dropping his powers and taking a tentative step forward.

Pidge was quiet, staring at the unconscious man as though he had seen a ghost, but Lance was struggling to get him out of the pilot's seat. While a tuft of hair had gone white, the person was still undeniably Takashi Shirogane, the prodigy wind bender of the Guardian Garrison. Hunk lightly guided Pidge aside so that he could help Lance with getting the man out.

"I thought he went missing a year ago?" Hunk whispered at Lance, not daring himself to speak any louder. "What's he doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lance admonished. The three Arusians stood to the side as the paladins slowly made their way out of the ship. "Everyone always suspected the Galra had something to do with that ship crash so long ago. He must have just escaped!"

"What about the others?!" came a demand from back in the ship.

Hunk turned tentatively back to the ship's inside as he and Lance set Shiro down on the ground. There Pidge stood, staring hard at Shiro.

"There were others with him on that mission, weren't there? Where are they?" Pidge asked, voice quieter yet shaking lightly.

Lance shrugged, seemingly not noticing Pidge's apparent distress. "They might still be captured, and Shiro managed to escape on his own. We can ask him once we get back to the Ark—"

The rest of what Lance might have said was cut off as Hunk launched a wall of rock up to block them and the ship off from a sudden strike of lightning. The boom as the lightning impacted the wall startled Lance into tripping over Shiro's prone body, Hunk barely having time to catch and steady him.

Pidge finally ran from the ship, looking to the side of Hunk's rock wall and paling considerably.

"It's the Galra!" he yelled, turning to the Arusians in panic. "You three need to get out of here! We'll protect you!"

Immediately two of the Arusians began to run off, one turning around to grab his reluctant spear-wielding companion. Thankfully, no strikes of lightning followed after them, yet whatever Pidge saw, Hunk knew it couldn't be good. Slowly, he lowered his rock wall, enough for both him and Lance to see what stood beyond.

There before them, a short way from the ship, was a large white stallion with a horn upon its head. Lighting and electricity crackled around the horse's body, and atop it sat a masked person shrouded in dark Galra-like armor. This was so not good.

"Okay, so that Galra can summon Ixion, no big deal," Lance muttered nervously to himself. Despite this, his eyes were wide, shoulders tense and shaking slightly.

"Hand him over now and we won't have to fight," the Galra demanded. Considering that from Hunk knew of Galra they always seemed up for a fight, this was admittedly suspicious.

There was no response for some time, the paladins too shocked and unprepared to answer. In time though, Hunk saw Lance take a deep breath. How he did it was beyond him. Hunk already felt like he was going to puke from the sight of the Galra alone. Lance took a step forward and held his hands out. Ice shards formed in front of him, threatening to launch forward.

"There's no way we're letting you bring Shiro back into Galra hands! As the paladins of Voltron, it's our job to protect people like him from you monsters!" he shouted, launching his ice shards as he did so.

The Galra didn't even flinch, summoning fire forth to melt the ice before it reached him, and already Ixion was charging forward to attack, nothing else said.

"Hunk, grab Shiro and get him out of here!" Pidge screamed even as he began summoning Carbuncle. "We'll hold this guy off!"

Hunk hated the relief that poured through him at this demand, but made to obey, his shaking hands having a difficult time grasping Shiro's prone body. The dead weight was a bit much, but he was eventually able to get the once missing summoner onto one shoulder. As he charged into a run, he made sure to keep a wall of stone between him and the fight going on behind him.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as Ixion leaped over his stone wall alone, its rider gone. Hunk screamed as he fell backwards to avoid getting trampled, the electric horse now in front of him. Shiro had fallen unceremoniously to the floor, and Hunk could feel the panic overtaking him. This wasn't good, he couldn't _do_ this! He wasn't meant for fighting!

Not knowing what else to do, Hunk summoned up the largest rock he could, hurling it at the agile horse. It lighting was no match for his land bending, but it was still able to dodge his rock. A stray crackle of electricity zapped towards him, only to bounce off a force in front of him and fizzle out. He made a mental note to forever praise and thank Pidge for having Carbuncle as a summon if they somehow survived this.

Behind Hunk, Lance and Pidge struggled to take on the Galra on their own. The match wasn't fair, as the Galra was clearly more experienced at fighting than the two garrison cadets, and the water and ice of Lance's water bending could easily be countered by the fire and electricity of the Galra's fire bending. Together, Pidge and Lance were doing their best to keep the Galra at bay, but Hunk couldn't dwell on that because Ixion—

A flash struck out of nowhere, overtaking the entire field for just a second before Ixion's image split in half and the guardian faded away. Hunk stared at where the horse once stood, his hands clenched deep in the rocky ground beneath him. The land surrounding him was jagged and raised at random in Hunk's panic, but he could still see what stood before him.

In Ixion's place stood an eight-legged stallion, the horned, humanoid figure riding it holding a spear Hunk had only heard about in legends. The guardian standing before him was _Odin_. Ixion had been slayed by a guardian Hunk had never thought existed until now. Had he not been so transfixed by menace of the god and steed before him, he would have heard the silence of the three behind him, but as it stood, he was trying too hard not to puke.

"Galra, surrender now or I will have you slain the same as your guardian."

Allura. That voice came from _Allura_. Was she able to summon Odin? What more about the Alteans did they not know that was being kept from them?

All was silent, and Hunk chanced a peak behind him. Pidge was on the ground with Carbuncle beside him, using some vines to hold the Galra's legs in place. Hunk knew that a little fire bending could easily burn the vines' holds, but the Galra seemed just as stunned by the sight of Odin as the three paladins did.

"You won't hurt Shiro?" was the Galra's only question. The voice, distorted as it was behind the mask, sounded enraged and yet vulnerable.

"We're trying to _rescue_ him from you, dude!" Lance blurted out, staring at the Galra incredulously. "You're trying to bring him back to be tortured or something!"

"Are you kidding me?!" the Galra turned on Lance, but didn't attack. "I saw you guys pulling him from that ship! You can't tell me you saw someone coming from Galra territory and weren't going to bring him into custody!"

"Oh, don't you dare try to make yourself look like the good guy here!"

"Be quiet, you two!" Allura shouted over them, glaring daggers at the Galra in particular.

She stepped forward enough to be beside Hunk and Shiro, but refused to move and closer to the Galra. All it took was one look and Hunk knew that Odin was prepared to strike. Even if the Galra was the guardian's target, Hunk still felt intense fear fill his belly. Despite her clear rage and hatred of the Galra before her, she didn't command Odin to kill.

"We're bringing this man with us so that we can protect him from the likes of you," Allura muttered darkly at the Galra.

It was then that Hunk noticed something a little strange. Were Lance and the Galra practically the same height, or was Hunk's panic still getting to him? In fact, everything about this Galra just felt off. That armor wasn't standard in the Galra military, and Hunk had certainly never seen a knife quite like the one in the Galra's grip before. Had he been using it while fighting against Pidge and Lance?

"We're taking the Galra into custody with us, right?" Pidge finally spoke, glancing repeatedly between said Galra and Shiro.

"I should kill him where he stands for trying to stop us," Allura replied, but didn't act.

Carbuncle having long been de-summoned, Pidge stood from his spot on the ground, Hunk noticing some burn marks on his face and arms as he did so. "This Galra clearly knows something we don't, and we're better off interrogating him than killing him. We can figure out where Shiro came from and if there's any other prisoners there!"

Allura didn't look happy with this, but she didn't object, either. "You have a point. The Ark has a magic suppressing dungeon that we can put him in."

Nothing more was said, and with a slight snap of Allura's fingers, the Galra gave a sharp scream and then collapsed, unconscious. After tentatively poking the prone Galra, Hunk could barely hear Lance stage whisper at Pidge, "Remind me to never piss off a mind bender."


End file.
